The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
In general, a vehicle is equipped with a transmission that adjusts the vehicle's traveling speed by receiving power from the engine. Transmissions may be divided into two types: manual transmissions that allow the driver to take control and automatic transmissions that are automatically controlled depending on the vehicle's traveling speed.
A vehicle fitted with a typical automatic transmission shifts gears in a uniform way according to how “shift patterns” are set using the vehicle's speed and the positional value of the accelerator pedal.
That is, the vehicle shifts gears by the shift patterns if a certain vehicle speed is reached by the driver's manipulation of the accelerator pedal. Gears are selected based on the relationship between the current vehicle speed and the accelerator pedal.
Thus, when there is an abrupt change in driving load on a road, gear shifting may not be properly done until the speed is slowed down or the driver manipulates the accelerator pedal upon detecting this change. This will cause the driver to experience a delay in acceleration due to a lack of the vehicle's driving torque or an excessive acceleration due to a surplus of driving torque.
Even if the driver accelerates, by the time they perceive a lack of driving torque, they might feel discontented with the delay in acceleration. Accordingly, it may be desirable to make a proper gear change before the driver perceives a lack of driving torque.
The above information disclosed in this section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the disclosure and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.